1. Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure relates to a system and method for generating a condensed streaming content in a network.
2. Description of the Related Art
As a result of the rapid development of broadband networks, A/V Streaming has become one of the most popular applications, such as sharing audio and video files, real-time network television programs, and so on, for the purposes of entertainment. The user may obtain the information about the channels available by browsing program schedules and decide to watch the streaming content of one television program. Furthermore, in recent years, the surveillance industry has shifted from a reliance on closed circuit television (CCTV) systems to IP surveillance systems. The video source may be such as an IP camera (IPCAM), a video server, a digital video recorder (DVR), or the like. The user can monitor the surveillance cameras installed in various locations via the IP networks through the video management systems (VMS) to monitor activities in these locations. In addition to the direct end-to-end connection, a streaming server is also often used to enhance the service scale of the systems.
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an architecture of a streaming system. The user can use various kinds of network-connected devices 14, such as desktop personal computers (Desktop PCs), notebooks, tablet PCs, mobile phones, as a carrier to watch streaming content. When the user watches an individual streaming content, the user first establishes a streaming connection with the streaming server 12 via a network 10 through the connection control protocol, such as the Real-Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP), and then receives the real-time streaming content data 16 or the pre-stored streaming content data 18 through a media transport protocol, such as the Real-time Transport Protocol (RTP). In order to avoid poor reception quality caused by variations in the network bandwidth, a streaming buffer with a short period of time is generally used to reduce the jittering impact on the player. According to the variations in the network bandwidth and the space of the streaming buffer, it may take a few seconds to establish the entire streaming session. When the user wants to watch multiple channels of source streaming content at the same time, the user can establish multiple streaming sessions and play the streams among the various channels independently through the player.
With the maturity of mobile communications technologies, the demands of using the streaming systems through mobile devices and networks have increased. However, the mobile network is still subject to bandwidth restrictions, reception quality, and the influence of the environment. On one hand, unstable and insufficient bandwidth may cause user frustration. When the user watches multiple channels (for example, in the application for network surveillance), it is still very difficult for the user to watch multiple channels stably at the same time because all the channels are competing for bandwidth. On the other hand, there is an urgent need to provide a global channel preview for users to browse playing frames of all streaming channels quickly and decide the content which the user wants to watch and assist users to understand the changing information of the channels dynamically and automatically, such as when channels are added or removed, or the user-interested frames are played (for example, when license plates, human faces or movement and other information are detected in video surveillance scenarios). A global channel preview here represents a viewing mode that could provide videos of a lot of channels for the user to have quick glances.
Therefore, there is a need to develop a method and a system for providing and transmitting condensed streaming contents of multiple source contents.